Criminal Law

A Section of the Virginia State Bar.

Section News and Information

November 26, 2008

Access contact information for all criminal law section members

Section members may now access contact information for all Active and Associate members in good standing of the Criminal Law Section by logging into the Member Resources Area.

May 28, 2009

Case Clarification Rowe v. Commonwealth (May 2009 Criminal Law News)

The latest newsletter reported that Rowe v. Commonwealth, 277 Va. 495 “upheld” agreements between municipalities that give officers from one jurisdiction authority to enforce the laws of the Commonwealth. Actually, the court’s opinion “applied” such an agreement to uphold a conviction for assault of a law-enforcement officer, but the court noted that the statute authorizing such agreements was not challenged by the defendant, thus the court expressed no opinion on the validity of the statute.5-26-09

August 20, 2009

August 2009 Newsletter Now Available

The August 2009 Newsletter Now Available online to Section Members via the Member Resources area.

The award was presented on Feb. 12, 2010, during the section’s 40th Annual Criminal Law Seminar in Williamsburg. Reno S. Harp III, retired chief counsel to the Virginia Judicial Inquiry and Review Commission and a previous Carrico Award winner, was the keynote speaker.

February 24, 2010

New Video Replays of 2010 Criminal Law Seminar Scheduled

VaCLE has added two dates to the video replay schedule for the 2010 Annual Criminal Law Seminar, in part to accommodate attorneys who were registered for the Charlottesville session of the seminar scheduled on February 5, which was cancelled because of snow.

Replays will be offered on Monday, March 15, and Thursday, March 18, at the Virginia CLE office in Charlottesville. These dates are in addition to the previously advertised schedule of seminars which will be held throughout the state in March and April. See complete schedule on the VaCLE Seminar's web page. These seminars are open to all Virginia attorneys.

For more information, contact Virginia CLE at (800) 979-8253, or register online on the VaCLE website.

November 29, 2010

2011 Annual Seminar Schedule Finalized

February 1, 2011

Trial of Capital Murder Cases in Virginia - 2011 Cumulative Supplement Is Now Available

A cooperative effort of Virginia CLE and the Criminal Law Section of the Virginia State Bar, with financial assistance provided by a grant from the Virginia Law Foundation.

Description

This essential resource is both a guide for attorneys and a source of information for judges who are involved with capital cases in Virginia. The book includes several tables of relevant cases arranged by different groupings: by defendant’s surname; by degree of aggravation and mitigation; by aggravator; and by the section of the Virginia Code offended. There is also a section discussing ineffective assistance of counsel issues. If you handle criminal cases in Virginia where capital punishment is even a possibility, you should have this book.

The fourth edition of this book was published in 2009. The book is available in both print and CD-ROM formats and is also available for immediate download from Virginia CLE’s website at www.vacle.org.

The 2011 cumulative supplement is now available from Virginia CLE. Click here to order.

April 19, 2011

2011 April Criminal Law News Now Available

May 26, 2011

Section to consider bylaw amendment at Annual Business Meeting

The Section will consider the following amendments to its bylaws during its Annual Business Meeting on Friday, June 17, at 12:30 p.m. - Cavalier Oceanfront Hotel - Virginia Beach

(open to all Section members)

PROPOSED BYLAW AMENDMENTS

SECTION ON CRIMINAL LAW -VIRGINIA STATE BAR

ARTICLE IV

Nomination and Election of Officers

Section 1. Nominations. Not less than sixty days (60) before the Annual Meeting, the Chair shall appoint a nominating committee of at least five members not more than three of whom may be members of the Board of Governors. The Immediate Past Chair of the Section shall serve as chair of the nominating committee. The current Chair and Vice Chair also shall serve as “ex officio” members of the committee.

The nominating committee shall meet at the place of the Annual Meeting at a time designated by the Chair of the Section and shall make and report to the Section nominations for any offices held by members whose terms expire on the 30th day of June following the Annual Meeting, or for any offices which are then vacant.

Three members of the nominating committee shall constitute a quorum, and, if less than a quorum is present, the Chair of the Section shall appoint new members sufficient to constitute a quorum. Other nominations may be made from the floor of the Section meeting.

September 14, 2011

Carrico Professionalism Award Call for Nominations

September 25, 2011

2012 Annual Seminar Schedule Finalized

December 12, 2011

Loan Repayment Assistance Available

The Department of Criminal Justice Services (DCJS) is pleased to announce the availability of education loan repayment assistance for prosecutors and public defenders, pursuant to the federal John R. Justice Grant Program.

These funds are available to attorneys employed fulltime in Commonwealth’s Attorneys’ offices who prosecute criminal and juvenile delinquency cases; attorneys employed fulltime by the Indigent Defense Commission who provide legal representation of persons in criminal and juvenile delinquency cases; and fulltime federal defender attorneys in Virginia.

Information about the John R. Justice Program is available on our website at http://www.dcjs.virginia.gov/programs/jrj/. We have posted downloadable versions of the documents needed to apply for assistance: the program guidelines, the application form, and the required Service Agreement.

Applications for assistance must be received by DCJS no later than January 30, 2012.

For further information about the John R. Justice Program in Virginia, contact:

February 6, 2012

Public Defender Melinda Douglas Presented with Carrico Award

The Virginia State Bar Criminal Law Section has presented its 2012 Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award to Melinda Douglas, Public Defender for the City of Alexandria since 1987.

The award was presented on February 3, 2012, during the section’s 42nd Annual Criminal Law Seminar in Williamsburg. The Honorable Martin F. Clark Jr., author and judge in the Patrick County Circuit Court, was the keynote speaker.

The award was named for a former Virginia Supreme Court chief justice who promoted the ideals of professionalism during his 42 years on the state’s highest court.

Petersburg General District Court Judge Lucretia A. Carrico, daughter of former Chief Justice Carrico, presented the award on behalf of her father. “Her activities and energy all illustrate her commitment to the improvement of the criminal justice system,” Judge Carrico said of Ms. Douglas during the award presentation. “She realizes that her clients are the poor and the downtrodden, and how important it is to work to ensure that each and every one of them receives a fair trial with proper professional representation that can only be achieved through the hard work necessary to be fully prepared and proficient in the law and facts of each case.”

Ms. Douglas earned a bachelor’s degree from Boston University and a law degree from the Antioch College School of Law. In addition to heading the Public Defender’s office, she is an adjunct professor of law at the Washington College of Law, American University, has been a speaker at various Continuing Legal Education seminars, is a past chair of the Criminal Law Section, and a member of numerous task forces on criminal law.

Ms. Douglas is also a respected teacher. "Melinda's singular and unique contribution to the commonwealth is that by paying attention to each individual attorney, intern, and client that passes through her office, she has improved the system of criminal justice in the Commonwealth of Virginia," according to a group letter signed by federal defenders Kenneth P. Troccoli, Mary E. Maguire, and Richard C. Goemann.

February 11, 2013

Cardwell receives 2013 Carrico Professionalism Award

October 3, 2013

2013 October Criminal Law News Now Available

The 2013 October Criminal Law News is now available in the Member Resources area.

January 7, 2014

2014 January Criminal Law News Now Available

The 2014 January Criminal Law News is now available in the Member Resources area.

January 14, 2014

Please Participate in a Study on Forensic Evidence

Professors Brandon Garrett and Gregory Mitchell of the University of Virginia School of Law are conducting research on how people evaluate forensic evidence, and you are invited to participate in this research.

Your participation would be voluntary and anonymous and would only take a few minutes of your time. The study involves a few questions about a hypothetical criminal case and can be completed online.

2014 May Criminal Law News Now Available

July 1, 2014

New Board of Governors Elected for 2014-2015

February 10, 2015

6th Edition of Capital Case Trial Manual Now Available

A cooperative effort of Virginia CLE and the Criminal Law Section of the Virginia State Bar, with financial assistance provided by a grant from the Virginia Law Foundation.

Description

Authored by Professor Ronald J. Bacigal of the University of Richmond School of Law, this essential resource is both a guide for attorneys and a source of information for judges who are involved with capital cases in Virginia. The book includes several tables of relevant cases arranged by different groupings: by defendant’s surname; by degree of aggravation and mitigation; by aggravator; and by the section of the Virginia Code offended. There is also a section discussing ineffective assistance of counsel issues. If you handle criminal cases in Virginia where capital punishment is even a possibility, you should have this book.

The sixth edition of this book was published in January 2015. It is now available in print, CD-ROM, and USB flash drive formats and is also available for immediate download from the Virginia CLE website.

February 19, 2015

Jerrauld C. Jones Receives Carrico Professionalism Award

The Virginia State Bar Criminal Law Section has presented its 2015 Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award to The Honorable Jerrauld C. Jones of the Circuit Court of the City of Norfolk.

Virginia State Bar President Kevin E. Martingayle presented the award Friday, February 13, 2015, during the section’s 45th Annual Criminal Law Seminar in Williamsburg. The award was named for the former Virginia Supreme Court chief justice who promoted the ideals of professionalism during his forty-two years on the state’s highest court.

In his letter nominating Jones, Martingayle wrote that, “I have seen Judge Jones function as a legislator, lawyer and member of the judiciary. He is consistently focused, prepared, kind, insightful, compassionate and intelligent. He has been one of the finest legislators, lawyers and judges I have had the pleasure of knowing, and he has touched the lives of many in a consistently positive way.”

Jones was appointed to the Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court in 2005 by Governor Timothy M. Kaine. The governor appointed him to the circuit court in 2008 and the General Assembly elected him to a full eight-year term in 2009.

Jones was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates from the 89th District and was re-elected eight times. He was a member of the House Rules Committee.

Jones earned his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University in 1976 and his law degree from the Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1980. He served as the first African-American law clerk to the Supreme Court of Virginia. He later returned to Norfolk and served as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney before opening his private law practice. He stayed in private practice until 2002 when Governor Mark Warner appointed him state director of juvenile justice. He also served on the State Advisory Group on Juvenile Justice and the Governor’s Advisory Committee on Juvenile Justice.

October 26, 2015

Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission announces fee waiver program

In June 2015, the Virginia Criminal Sentencing Commission approved a fee waiver program for attorneys who perform court-appointed work in the Commonwealth. Through this one-year pilot program, attorneys providing court-appointed representation may qualify for a waiver of the fees the Commission charges private attorneys to attend a sentencing guidelines training seminar or to purchase a guidelines manual. Attorneys who would like to request a fee waiver must submit an application. Applications for fee waivers will be evaluated based on the percentage of the attorney's practice focusing on indigent defense cases and the financial need of the applicant (especially for new or solo practitioners). Attorneys approved for a fee waiver will be able to attend guidelines training and/or receive a manual free of charge. Applications will be accepted while funds designated for the pilot project remain.

February 10, 2016

Michael Herring Honored with 2016 Carrico Professionalism Award

The Virginia State Bar Criminal Law Section has presented its 2016 Harry L. Carrico Professionalism Award to Michael N. Herring.

The Virginia State Bar has awarded Richmond Commonwealth’s Attorney Michael N. Herring with the 2016 Harry L. Carrcio Professionalism Award. The award recognizes “an individual (judge, defense attorney, prosecutor, clerk or other citizen) who has made a singular and unique contribution to the improvement of the criminal justice system in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Among those nominating Herring were lawyers James A. Bensfield and Jonathan Kossak of the Miller & Chevalier law firm. Bensfield and Kossak represented Michael Kenneth McAlister in a successful petition for a pardon from the governor in 2015, after McAlister served twenty-nine years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit. Herring publicly supported that petition. “Mr. Herring did not need to make these statements (supporting McAlister) in such a public way,” Bensfield and Kossak wrote. “He did it because he is a man of integrity, courage, and justice…. He is the sort of prosecutor we all hope exists – an advocate for justice – not only for the victims of crime, but for those who the system may, every so often, wrong.”

Chief Justice Harry Carrico’s daughter, retired Judge Lucretia A. Carrico, presented the award on February 5, 2016, during the 46th Annual Criminal Law Seminar in Williamsburg. The award, presented by the VSB Criminal Law Section, is named for the former Virginia Supreme Court chief justice who promoted the ideals of professionalism during his forty-two years on the state’s highest court.

Retired Richmond Circuit Court Judge Richard D. Taylor Jr. also wrote in support of Herring. “Mike Herring makes what he does professionally in and out of the court look almost easy,” Taylor wrote. “Yet, we all know that it is not. It involves relentlessly tough and often gut-wrenching work. The integrity, scholarship and compassion that he has exhibited on a day-to-day basis for decades cannot and should not be taken for granted by us.”

Herring received his undergraduate degree in economics in 1987 and his law degree in 1990 from the University of Virginia. He started his career as an associate at Hunton & Williams, later joining the Office of the Commonwealth's Attorney in 1992, where he served as a senior felony trial attorney for violent crimes and narcotics offenses. He then returned to the private sector in 1996 at the law firm of LeClair Ryan where his practice focused on medical malpractice defense and criminal defense.

Prior to his 2006 election as commonwealth's attorney, he was a partner at the law firm of Bricker & Herring where he practiced criminal law and medical malpractice law. Herring served as the first African-American president of the Richmond Bar Association in 2005, is a past chair of the Criminal Law Section of the VSB and of the Third District Attorney Disciplinary Committee. He is an active member of various professional organizations, including the American College of Trial Lawyers. He also serves on several government, community, and non-profit boards.